The FDA is asking medical device manufacturers to avoid giving purple wristbands to patients as an indicator they have an implanted device. This is to prevent confusion with the purple wristbands hospitals use to denote a patient's "do not resuscitate" status.
"The FDA is aware that purple hospital wristbands are given to patients in many healthcare settings to denote DNR status," the agency said in an Aug. 16 letter. "The FDA is also aware other purple wristbands may have different meanings. We encourage following AHA recommendations and reserve the use of purple bracelets or wristbands only for DNR status."
The AHA recommended hospitals standardize the color of their patient hospital wristbands in 2008 to indicate the following:
- Purple: DNR status
- Red: Allergy
- Yellow: Fall risk
To learn more, click here.